I’m still trying to process – but not get totally absorbed by – this no-good-very-bad-kind-of-crazy-news cycle. 

So when I saw my colleague Roy Peter Clark’s Tuesday declaration demystifying the beloved “lede” that so many journalists favor, I felt a comfortable relief. That’s not because I agree with him that we should all use lead. It really just felt nice to bicker civilly with colleagues and strangers on the internet. 

Then I realized: Lead/lede is a disagreement safe space. 

This week, I want to offer you a few other places to get angry in a non-existential, non-political, non-unfriending way. These are stories that have come up over the last several years that reinforce my love of and frustration with newsrooms, all at the same time.  

They might also offer inspiration for engaging your community and audiences around topics it’s kinda fun to disagree about. Some examples of this from mostly local newsrooms: 

Local pronunciations: This is a personal favorite of mine since I realized I was getting so many wrong.

Food rivalries: Don’t mess with people’s favorites.

Food rankings: People love what they love. Really.

Messing with classics: OK I don't actually recommend doing this on purpose, but this one led to a fun follow-up for us. 

Here are a few journalism-related examples. Like with lede/lead, they’re all about language:

AP removes distinction between over and more than

AP says the percentage sign now OK when used with a numeral (that’s shift+5)

And here’s one more from Roy: AP Style should adopt the Oxford comma

While you’re here:

Deadline it! It’s your last chance apply for Poynter’s workshop for rising stars. Stop procrastinating! 

Learn from what works: Lenfest and Shorenstein have a playbook on paymeters. 

And then: The American Journalism Project has lessons from revenue teams.

Do you need a stress ball avocado?: This is a fun twist on public media model swag. 

Meet Dr. Dawson: In my latest obituary for the Tampa Bay Times, I learned that the dentistry world had a rock star within it. 

See you next week!